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Chapter Six

Wannabe's Fabulous Day

"So, how far is he off?" Izzy asked leaning back in his chair and putting his head back.

"Well, if we keep running we might live another five minutes" Veemon responded hectically, "No promises, though."

"And all of you are out of energy?"

"Yup. Eh, could still dish out some headbutts, but I - don't think those do that much against these guys..."

Matt leaned over to Tai, murmuring something smugly.

"Fuck you, Matt!" Tai bellowed, "How the fuck would you know if he was a better leader? You missed the entire first mission and most of this one, and half the time, when we were still running together, you either went off on your own or stabbed me in the back!"

"A) I was manipulated to do that" Matt fired back, "and B) you kind of had it coming!"

"Is that Matt?" Mimi asked from the other end, "Hi, Matt!"

"Oh, hi Mimi..." Matt said, who was clearly not expecting to hear her, "She's just visiting, right?" he added whispering toward Izzy.

Izzy nodded.

"Thank god..."

"How have you been?" she asked bubbly, "It's been sooo long!"

"Well, I was doing just fine... right up until now..."

"Aw, come on!" she said teasingly, "Don't be so grumpy! I know deep down, you missed me, too!"

"Then I guess, I haven't looked deep enough, yet..."

"Act all you want, but we all know, how you really feel about us -"

"Princess, we are running for our lives!" Veemon panted baffled, "How the fuck do you still have enough air in your lungs, to babble that much?"

"Well, I'm working out with my friends and we talk a lot, when we do. Do you really think you could maintain this figure, without doing some cardio? I mean, I thought about doing this whole bulimia thing, but my parents kept telling me, that would end up killing me, so..."

"I am seriously considering, running back to Tyrannomon, so he can eat me, right now!"

"Don't do it, Veemon" Izzy said calm, "We still need you. Now, climb up that rocky slope to your left, go up to the top and down the other side. The hill could slow him down, and you should reach the lava lakes sooner."

"Lava lakes?" the team asked puzzled.

"Just go!" Izzy said annoyed, "You'll meet the others there. Speaking of which: Guess who just got loud again. I'll check on you later."

Izzy switched channels.

"Please, let it just be TK, throwing another tantrum..." Tai muttered tense.

Immediately, when the other groups audio came up, they heard TK yelling at someone (Kari's camera pointed straight ahead at a rock so they couldn't see, who it was):

"I mean, who do you think you are, you so called EMPEROR, treating everyone like shit and acting like you're some sort of... uh... king..."

"Huh, guess we'll get to know our enemy, now." Izzy said impassive.

"Uh..." the Emperor said taken aback, "Didn't see that outburst coming... What's his problem?"

"Do I really need to repeat myself?"

"TK, you have my attention, now" Izzy stepped in, "So, no need to yell much more."

"Because I can tell you in my normal voice, too... if that helps..."

"Okay..." the Emperor said confused.

"Very subtle... Just keep him talking, while I figure out a strategy for you guys. Oh, and don't reply to me, directly. Let's not give him the the benefit of knowing, I'm watching over you guys. Kari, mind filming him and your surroundings? Subtly? I just need some visuals."

"So..." TK said awkwardly, "What's up with those dark towers? You built those?"

"Do you honestly expect me to tell you anything of value?" the Emperor scoffed.

"Guess not" TK said rolling his eyes, now growing a little more confident again, "So, what are you up to? Wait, don't tell me! You're here to kill us, right? Am I close?"

"Something like that" he said before snapping his fingers.
From the bundle of fur at the end of Airdramon's tail, a small, green, worm like creature emerged.

"Right!" the worm said sounding somewhat uncertain, but trying to play it down, "You better do as he says! He is serious! He will end you all!"

"What the fuck is that?" TK giggled.

"Ugh! Not you, maggot!" the Emperor groaned, "You really think, you could intimidate even a small child? Get back in there, before I throw you into the lava!"

Gasping the worm quickly retreated back into the tail end.

"Now, for our real special guest" the Emperor said as the earth started to shake lightly from massive foot steps, and turned his head towards the source: It was a massive orange dinosaur, like the Tyrannomon, similar to a Tyrannosaurus in appearance, but with three fingers, blue stripes across his back and a blackened, horned skull covering the upper half of his head.

Greymon. The evolved form of Tai's partner Agumon.

"I believe, you know each other." The Emperor said grinning, "Guess your old friend doesn't like you that much, anymore, am I right, Greymon?"

"Yes..." Greymon growled.

"Ha!" Gatomon said, trying to sound unimpressed, but she swallowed audibly, "He's bluffing... right, guys? Guys?"

"Gatomon, I just checked with Tai's Digivice, that is Tai's partner."

"Well, shit..."

"And now..." the Emperor said giving Airdramon a signal. The dragon flew a small circle around them coming to a halt to their right, while Greymon stomped to the left side of the lava lake, effectively robbing them of any escape route.

"Now we can pin you down even better." he concluded his statement.

"Seriously?" Gatomon asked challenging, "You don't have the balls to fight a bunch of rookie-levels and one champion-level with you're Airdramon alone?"

"This isn't about balls, pussy cat" the Emperor said, "This is about efficiency! Sending half a dozen minions after you apparently wasn't enough!"

"So, you decided to use three, instead" Gatomon said, now actually unimpressed, "Of which, one is a rookie-level?"

"The little maggot was never part of the plan!"

"My point still stands."

The Emperor let loose a high pitched giggle.

"Sure, go ahead and assume I came unprepared" he chuckled, "Make my job easier and dig your own graves. But to answer your question, I figured, if you want something done right" he said and suddenly his he sounded serious again, downright dark, "Do it yourself. We're at war. It's very clear that you are purposefully destroying my property, so I'm not taking any half measures anymore. I'm gonna finish you off, right here... Although coming to think of it, you managed to steal the eggs, I planted, too. I tell you what: You hand them back over and tell me what the deal with those things is and I might spare you kids and only take out your Digimon, how does that sound, eh?"

"Like eating your own shit." TK said grim.

"Funny" the Emperor said, "Considering that's exactly what I'll make you do in a minute."

"No, you got that backwards" Gatomon laughed, "It's funny, because that's what we're gonna make you do, Emperor." she added mockingly.

The Emperor cackled.

"Sure! Bring it on! Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets! How long is she gonna last against Greymon and Airdramon? My bet is less than a minute. But what about you, huh? How do you like your chances, kitty?"

If Gatomon's looks could kill, surely, the Emperor would have spontaneously combusted.

"Can I just kill him?" she asked annoyed, "The rookies aren't here. We could just tell 'em, it was an accident or... he disappeared or whatever..."

"That's the plan, Gatomon." Izzy and TK said.

"Don't let the rookies know" Izzy added, "but the actually plan is the usual one: killing our enemy, the first chance we get. Now, think you can throw him off his high horse?"

Gatomon looked at the Emperor; the way Airdramon was hovering had him be positioned right above the lake.

"Tricky..." she mumbled, "Tentomon? Get ready to catch me."

"What? Where?" he asked confused.

"NOW!"

And she jumped, directly toward the Emperor but Airdramon reacted, flying up to move his master out of harms way. Improvising, Gatomon hit Airdramon with her Lightning-paw instead. The impacted was heavy, throwing Airdramon to the side, causing the the Emperor to desperately cling to the reigns and Airdramon's back, so he wouldn't fall off.

Tentomon, meanwhile, had finally realized what Gatomon meant and hurried to catch her and prevent her from falling into the lava.

"GATOMON!" Kari screamed, fearing she would fall in.

But Tentomon caught her. Just when she settled safely on his back, a fireball swept over their heads and hit Airdramon, who was still struggling to stabilize his flight. It came from Greymon.

"He's fighting it!" Tentomon exclaimed excited, "He's turning against them!"

"Uh..." Gatomon said looking at Greymon who's eyes where still glowing red, "No, I think that was meant for us. You know him, he couldn't even hit a beached Whamon, if it was directly in front of him."

Greymon roared in defiance.

Using the chaos the group ran along side the lava lake, away from Greymon. Since the Emperor's side just had cleared up, they were able to slip past him and out of the undesirable position they had been trapped in.

"You fucking idiot!" the Emperor shouted angry, "Attack them! Not us!"

"Like I said" Gatomon giggled, "He tried! Tentomon get me closer to Greymon! TK, evolve Patamon again!"

"Again?" TK asked confused, "Wait, can we just spam the eggs?" he added excited.

"No" Izzy stepped in, "You still need to pay attention to how much energy Patamon has left. So far it looks like one egg will only provide one energy boost, per day. However, you have two, remember?"

"Oh shit, that's right!" TK said opening his D-Terminal, "Digi-armor energize!"

Immediately Patamon started to glow and digivolve.

"Patamon armor-digivolve tooo..." he exclaimed, "Manbomon!"

"Holy shit..." TK said dumbfounded, "What the fuck happened?"

Patamon had turned into, what looked like a large, silver colored blue tang, with blue stripes forming a circular pattern. Instead of lateral fins he had arms with red boxing gloves.

"See TK?" Kari said annoyed, "This is what happens, when you steal other people's eggs!"

"Gimme a break!" TK responded, "That would be a stupid punishment! Why wouldn't it stop me from picking up the egg, instead of this dumb – actually, you know what? That sounds exactly like the kind of bullshit, the Digital World would pull off, never mind..."

Unfortunately for them Manbomon seemed to be a literal fish out of water: He hit the ground and started flopping around wildly.

"Oh, oh!" he gasped, "Guys, I'm having a bit of a problem here!"

"Perfect!" the Emperor exclaimed, "Go for them, they're wide open!"

"God, damn it!" TK said annoyed, "Well, looks like this is it..."

"TK, I swear, if my sister dies -!" Tai started but TK cut him off:

"What are you gonna do?" he hissed, "Track me down in afterlife, so you can kill me again?"

"Then, you better make sure you fucking die, too!" Tai said, "Trust me, you don't want me to kill you!"

"Oh, don't worry! I'm pretty sure, all of us are gonna bite the dust!"

Airdramon turned around and proceeded to breath fire at them.

"Hang on! I got this!" Manbomon said and used all his strength to flop to the side. In a beautiful arch he flew high up – directly into the path of Airdramon's attack.

Manbomon took the brunt of the fire, successfully protecting the kids.

"Shit, are you okay, Manbomon?" TK asked worried.

"Yeah, I'll be fine" the fish answered in pain, "I can take a few more for the team!"

"We'll see about that!" the Emperor taunted.

Airdramon attacked again - and once again Manbomon managed to flop at the right time to block the entirety of the flames with the broad side of his body.

"Go again!" the Emperor ordered, "He can't keep this up forever!"
And yet again Manbomon held the defenses.

"Ugh..." the Emperor growled, "Again!"

Another assault, another successful defense.

"Come on!" the cloaked boy yelled, "Just – whoa!"

A barrage of fireballs came flying their way and barely missed the boy and his Airdramon. The Emperor looked over to Greymon, just to see that he was trying to fend off Gatomon and Tentomon, who came flying his way.

"Try something else!" the Emperor shouted, "You almost hit us, you moron!"

"I told you, it would work!" Gatomon said satisfied, "Keep going at him like this!"

"But now he wont fire anymore!" Tentomon argued.

"Ya, well... everything has its pros and cons! Get ready to buck me off, I'm going in!"

They had reached Greymon, and Tentomon bucked Gatomon off, reusing their strategy from the fight against the Ogremon previously. Gatomon jumped straight toward his neck and struck him.

"Dammit!" she called out; she had aimed for the ring around his neck, but only hit his jaw line instead.

Tentomon caught her, as she fell. They were just in front of another cliff side higher up, when Greymon fired at them again. The blast broke off a bunch of chunks from the rocks, forcing them to -

"DODGE!" Gatomon yelled.

Tentomon managed to evade the falling debris, even if it was just barely. The pair made another another approach at their friend.

"Perfect!" Gatomon said, "Great angle! I can do it this time!"

"Oh, no you don't!" the Emperor cut in.

Airdramon made a sharp turn flying around a rock spire. When they emerged from the other side, the Emperor was pointing something at Greymon.

Suddenly the dinosaur was consumed by an enormous explosion. It looked like he had exploded into a massive black cloud. Gatomon and Tentomon soon shot out of the cloud, as they were knocked away by the shock wave.

"No!" Kari gasped, "Did he just -"

But before she could finish that horrific thought, something big rose out of the smoke. Parting the plum, was what resembled the skeletal remains of Greymon. The being had long finger like bone structures on its back, implying that it had wings before it died. Also on its back it wore a massive, red, organic looking missile. The creature stood up fully and roared, with the cloud now being blown away by this action alone, giving all bystanders a good first glimpse at the power this monster possessed.

"What..." the Emperor said in disbelief, "... is that?"

"TK..." Kari said, staring at the fiend in front of them, wide eyed,

"Is that, who I think it is?" she asked shaken.

"Yeah..." TK said numb, "That is SkullGreymon..."

"No... no! NO!" the Emperor shouted furious, "This is impossible! My plan was absolutely perfect! It's supposed to be MetalGreymon! How did this happen?"

"This is what you get for playing god, asshole!" TK shouted now shaking with anger, "Enslaving Digimon and experimenting on them! I hope he'll blow you up first, because this fucker doesn't take orders from anyone!"

"Guys, retreat!" Izzy said sternly, "It's no use. TK, you know, what kind of damage he can cause!"

"Yeah..." TK said backing away from the skeleton, "Come on, let's go. Now!"

"Gatomon! Tentomon!" Kari yelled.

Gatomon got back up, staring at their newest opponent.

"Alright" she said with a nervous laugh, while backing off, too, "Looks like this is a wrap, everybody! Time to go home! Tentomon, move your ass!"

Tentomon was still coming to. She stormed past him, grabbed one of his antennas and dragged him along, behind herself.

"Wha – ow! I'm awake!" Tentomon protested dazed, "I'm awake, what – oh, god! Where did he come from?"

"Less babbling, more running!" Gatomon responded, throwing him into the air, in front of her. He reacted quickly, spun around and started to fly away, while Gatomon kept up with him, sprinting on all fours.

Meanwhile the Emperor seemed to have recovered from his initial shock, since he cackled at the sight of the team fleeing his creation in terror.

"That's right!" he shouted delightful, "Run, like the cowards, you are! But don't think you can outrun – ah!"

A missile barely missed Airdramon, overshooting them and crashing into the hills behind them. The explosion was strong enough to pass as a miniature version of a nuclear bomb, destroying the hill it hit completely and making a nearby dark tower collapse.

The missile came from SkullGreymon.

"What are you doing?!" the raven haired boy screamed, "They are your enemies! Not us! Obey!"

Again he pointed something at SkullGreymon the black ring around his neck started to glow dark red, but SkullGreymon didn't seem to care: He stomped toward them, swinging at them with his enormous arms.

"STOP!"

Airdramon turned away and started to circle SkullGreymon – although he kept his distance, doing so.

Using the distraction of their enemies the kids and their partners had managed to cover a lot of ground, almost having reached the end of the canyon they came in from.

"Look out for a TV, so you can get out of there" Izzy said.

"Man" TK said, "Gotta tell you, this area doesn't look very TV heavy."

"Just keep looking" Izzy insisted, "I'm having an eye on the data in this area and on the map. No guarantees, but there's a chance, I can spot one for you."

A shriek pulled their attention back to SkullGreymon and the Emperor:

"You wanna use him?!" the worm asked horrified.

They stopped and looked back.

"Who are they talking about?" Kari asked unnerved.

"And what are they doing?" TK added.

"Yes" Izzy said, "What are they doing? Kari, your camera is filming the rocks again!"

"Sorry!"

Kari pointed her camera at SkullGreymon; a weak stream of data floated away from the skeleton toward the Emperor and whatever he was holding in his hand.

"Okay..." Izzy said nervous.

Suddenly a stray missile flew toward them, obliterating the hill next to them. The explosion threw them off their feet and dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

"Shit! Sis, are you okay?" Tai said worried into Izzy's microphone.

"Yeah..." Kari moaned, when they got back up.

"Look, just go!" Izzy pressed, "I don't see this scenario getting much better for you guys. Just book it, alright?"

"Okay" TK said looking around, as they turned to run again "Let's keep going this way we should -"

He stopped looking toward a hill to their right.

"Holy shit" he said pleasantly surprised, "I never thought I'd say this but -"

"TK" Izzy interrupted, "In case you're about to say something along the lines of 'I'm happy to see the rookies' – how do I phrase this..."

"RUN!" Veemon yelled, waving his arms at them, as he and the rest of Team Semi-Disposable ran down the hillside, "RUUUN!"

"Yeah, don't get up your hopes too high..."

TK tilted his head.

"What are they – Oh! What the fuck?!"

Just when he started to wonder, what the problem was, the Tyrannomon chasing the team came into view, as he reached the top of the hill.

"SERIOUSLY?!" he yelled at them, "Izzy told us you had three Tyrannomon, to deal with! You have three Digimon with you who can digivolve! Why is there STILL one left?!"

"Uh, because I had to work with fucking Greenpeace apparently!" Veemon answered equally annoyed.

"You see, this is why you never leave loose ends!" TK shouted back, "If they try to kill you, kill them! It's killing or being killed!"

"Amen..." Izzy said.

"Whatever!" Veemon growled, when they had almost reached the others, "Either we find a way to take him out or we find a TV so we can -"

He couldn't finish his sentence; Tyrannomon had gotten fairly close to them, but before he could do anything, one of SkullGreymon's missiles had hit the dinosaur, vaporizing him on impact and knocking Team Semi-Disposable to the ground in front of their team-mates.

"Well..." Veemon grunted, as he stood back up, "That was convenient... Where the hell did that come fr- HOLY FUCK! What in the fucking hell is that thing?!" he added shocked, when he spotted SkullGreymon.

"That's a SkullGreymon!" Poromon said, "Bloody hell! How did that happen?"

"There's a concept called 'debriefing'!" Izzy stepped in, "Let's do that, once you're back in the human world! You know? Once you're not running for your lives anymore?"

"Guys!" TK shouted over to them, "I found a monitor, let's get the fuck out of here!"

He had run up a small path between to large rocks. There was a small gray monitor laying on it's side, at the end of it.

The group ran over to him and Yolei went to open the gate.

"Wait!" Kari said suddenly. She was peaking out from behind the rock, between them and SkullGreymon.

"I can't see the Emperor anywhere."

"So?" Veemon asked incredulously, "I see a giant skeleton, firing fucking nukes at us!"

"No, I mean -" she said frantically, "We can get to him, once he becomes Agumon again! We can still save him!"

"Kari, I highly doubt the Emperor has completely abandoned him." Izzy argued, "He probably had the same thought as you"

"But -" she said upset, looking back and forth between her friends and the raging, undead monster. Another explosion. This time the hill behind the end of the path was annihilated – and luckily for them, yet another dark tower fell victim to SkullGreymon's brute force.

"GO!" Tai yelled on the other end.

Yolei opened the gate and the first few of them made their way through.

"Well, on the bright side, he keeps taking out dark towers" TK shrugged, "Less work for us... Kari, move it!"

Kari still hesitated.

"Come on!" Mimi said grabbing her by the wrist, pulling her into the glow of the gate.

It was true, the water, that flooded the lab, seemed to disappear in mere seconds. At least the "digital" water did.

"Poor Agumon..." Kari sobbed. Unlike the others, she was still sitting on the floor, crying over the fact that Agumon was still enslaved by the Emperor.

Tai immediately went to his sister, kneeling down next to her and giving her a hug.

"It's okay" he said soothingly, "You're alright, that's more important."

"It's not!" Kari protested into his shoulder.

"It is" he reassured her with a sad smile and a quick eye-roll, "Knock it off..."

"Well..." Izzy said somber, "That was... unfortunate..."

"Really, dude?" Tai asked annoyed.

"What do you want me to say, Tai? All hope is lost, let's have a damn moment of silence for Agumon? Who is still alive, I might add! No, I already have a few ideas, of how to get him back, so let's try not to act like this is the end of the world."

"Fair..." Tai mumbled.

A knock on the door.

"Uh, hello?" a man on the other side said, "Your pizza is here!"

"When did you order that?" Izzy said bewildered, looking at Tai.

"On the way to the bathroom" Tai said, standing up and approaching the door, "Also, you told me to!"

He opened the door.

"What's up?" he said to the delivery guy, a young man with brown hair, probably around seventeen, fist bumping him.

"Hey, man" the guy greeted back, "Uh, am I interrupting something?" he added looking at the scene of angst and despair unfolding in front of him.

"No, it's cool" Tai sighed, handing him some money, "That should cover it, right?"

"Yup" the pizza guy said after a quick count.

"Keep the change"

The guy incredulously looked at the minuscule amount of change in his hand, then up to Tai.

"How generous..." he muttered

"What? I'm fucking broke, right now!" Tai justified himself.

"Fine..." he said, turning to leave, "See ya, Tai"

"Later, man"

Tai closed the door and turned to face the others, four large boxes of pizza in his hands.

"Soooo, uh... pizza, anyone?"

The group stared at him. The only thing, saving the situation from complete silence, was Kari's sniffling.

"When I told you 'Order some pizza later', I meant 'Order some pizza, once we know for sure, that the damn mission is a success!'"

"Well, it looked like it was going great, at the time!"

Matt sighed.

"If only I had gotten one yen, for each time I heard you say that..."

"Shut. Up." Tai growled, "Wannabe!" he added and whistled to get her attention.

Once she looked up, he threw a pizza box at her. She caught it, albeit a bit clumsy, put it on her lap and opened it immediately.

"Salami!" she said and looked like she was melting away, thanks to the smell alone, "I got my partner, I got my pizza – this is the best day ever!"

Now the team glared at her.

"I mean..." she backpedaled, "It – it would be, if everyone wasn't all sad..."

"Yeah" Veemon chuckled, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box, Tai had placed in the middle of the floor, for the Digimon to eat from, "Are all of your parties as kick-ass as a damn funeral service?"

"One of our friends was kidnapped and is now probably experimented on" Tai said dark, "What the fuck do you expect?"

"So your always having pizza parties when one of your team-mates is in mortal danger?" Veemon asked unfazed.

Tai hesitated, Kari started to sob again, and Matt decided to elaborate:

"Well, pizza parties aren't the norm. However..." he added glaring at Tai, next to him.

"Oh, fuck off!" Tai demanded, "You just gotta bring up this Sora story, again! I get it! It's been a week, since the last time! Gotta bitch about it again!"

"Well, you don't need to look any further than this, to know what a shitty leader you were!"

"All I said was 'Let's all get plenty of rest, so we'll be focused and ready to save her'! What's so shitty about that?!"

"Well, for starters, sleeping for twelve hours straight, is a little beyond 'plenty of rest'!"

"Well, never mind!" Veemon laughed, jumping on a chair to get a better viewpoint, "Alright guys, who's gonna win this? My money is on Emo-kid. Anyone for crows-nest? Do I hear crows-nest?"

Matt and Tai exchanged one last angry stare, before quickly turning their heads away from one another.

"No! Come on, keep going!" Veemon said disappointed, but Matt and Tai remained silent, "Ah, great..." he muttered taking another bit from his pizza.

What followed was the very definition of awkward silence.

Upamon, who was resting on Cody's lap, looked around.

"So... I'm Upamon, by the way!" she said joyful, "Hi, everyone!"

TK stared at her, his mouth opened slightly.

"Why does Blank have a girl for a partner?"

"Why does everybody keep asking that?" Upamon asked confused.

"I know, right?" Poromon added, "They keep asking me the same thing."

"What? And she has a guy?" TK asked now even more baffled.

"Yeah..." Izzy sighed, swallowing his last bite of pizza (He had already finished his half of the pizza him and Tai were sharing), "I had hopes, that they had both picked up the wrong egg, respectively. But Poromon over here" he continued, pointing at Yolei's partner, "told us he was sealed under a different egg. So I guess, the correct people are necessary to set them free. And we know, as soon as Wannabe touched the egg Veemon was sealed under, it got heavier. Meaning they couldn't pick up the eggs that aren't meant for them. On the plus side, thanks to Poromon's information I have now pin pointed the location of the egg of love."

"Wait, love?" Matt asked puzzled, "I thought the eggs had our crests on them?"

"Oh, that's right. Turns out we got some weird, twisted version of the crests we were supposed to get." Izzy explained, "For example yes, Sora's crest was 'lust' but it was supposed to be 'love'."

"Eh, I guess that's not too far off..." Matt shrugged, "What was mine supposed to be?"

"Friendship" Izzy said and Tai started laughing.

Even TK and Mimi started giggling softly.

"What's so funny about that?"

"Oh, where to start?" Tai chuckled.

"By all means, I'm dying, to hear your take on it!"

"Matt, let's all take a deep breath and be realistic" Izzy said, "Your current crest is clearly the better fit."

"Whatever!" Matt growled crossing his arms, "Do we at least know, why we got the the 'seven deadly sins edition', though?"

"So far my best guess is: Gennai fucked up again." Izzy said dry.

"That's your answer to everything."

"It has been true ninety nine percent of the time, now hasn't it? Anyway, like I said, we know where the next egg is and I'm already working on a plan, to get it and maybe we can combine that with a rescue mission for Agumon, too."

"Really?" Tai said, sitting up, "How so?"

"I said, I'm working on it. I have some ideas but... nothing solid yet. Give it some time, I'll come up with something soon. Anyway, let's get to the debriefing process, get everybody up to speed... So long story short, TK is an idiot - oh, wait, we already knew that."

"I said, I was sorry..." TK growled, "Can you knock it off, man?"

"What?" Izzy said somewhat surprised, "I meant everyone in here already knows about your stupid little stunt. We're all on the same page, that's all."

"Yeah, right..." TK grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Anyway, on the bright side, that means we just managed to obtain four eggs, this mission alone. That being said, knowing our luck, we're looking at three more eggs to go... so basically three or four more missions, at least."

"That reminds me" TK said suddenly, "What eggs did they get?"

"Cody got mine" Mimi said, "Wait, what's mine actually mean? You said they all had different meanings."

"Good question..." Izzy said, who didn't know since Veemon never gave a clear answer, "Veemon?"

"It's either 'sincerity'..." Veemon munched, "Or 'honesty', or 'purity'... or 'responsibility'."

"Well, which is it?" Mimi asked taken aback.

"I don't know!" Veemon said, "I don't know why, but I heard like ten versions of what your crest and the real version of 'greed' are. People keep confusing these two for some reason..."

"So, yeah" Izzy said, "Cody's got – whatever Mimi's crest means and Wannabe... ugh..."

"Oh, that's right!" Yolei said excited, "I got your crest Izzy-Senpai! This day keeps getting better and... better..." she slowed down looking at everybody's faces.

"Okay then!" Izzy said, "Moving on! School wont be open forever."

Suddenly Mimi gasped.

"What time is it?" she asked hectically, checking her watch, "Aw, I gotta go! Gotta met up with Dad in the city, pack up my things..."

"Mimi?" Izzy asked suspiciously, "When exactly are you planning on flying back?"

Mimi hesitated.

"Tomorrow at 6 a. m."

"You came to Japan... for a day?" Izzy asked baffled, "Isn't that at least a fourteen hour flight?"

"Well, yeah... I mean it was very spontaneous and also I wanted to see my little Palmon, so bad! Anyway, I really gotta run now!" She added hectically making another quick round, hugging her friends before hurrying to the door.

"Speaking of Palmon!" Izzy interrupted her sternly, and Mimi froze as she put her hand on the door, "Where do you think, you're taking her?"

"Like... back home with me... or something..." Mimi mumbled quietly.

"Absolutely not, Mimi."

"Why not?!"

"Remember how electronics tend to mess up, when our partners are around?"

"He's right" Tai said, "I was trying to microwave something, with Agumon next to me, once. His stomach started to rumble, and I almost ended up burning our apartment down."

"So?" Mimi argued, "They don't use those on planes, do they?"

"Even if they didn't, that's not the issue, Mimi!" Izzy said impatiently, "The problem is, the planes electronics might mess up, the plane might crash and all of you might die. That means you and your Dad, too. Oh, and Palmon, too. Which means she would be gone for good, remember?"

Mimi grumbled quietly for a few seconds, then she put Palmon on the floor groaning in frustration.

"Fine!" she exclaimed pouting, before leaning down to Palmon to hug her tightly, "I'm sorry, Palmon! I'll come back to see you again, promise!"

"Mimi!" Palmon sobbed.

Ten minutes later they had finished their tearful goodbye and Mimi ran off to meet with her Dad in time.

"So, yeah" Izzy said, "We'll send you Digimon back to the Digital World shortly, to look for Gabumon."

"Okay" Gatomon said, "You found him yet? On the map, I mean"

"I did. He's near... what was that place called?"

He froze, looking at the map.

"Dev Lagoon... I am going to ignore that..."

"Really? Dev Lagoon?" Gatomon asked looking at him attentively.

"Yes, what about it?"

"Uh... nothing, it's just..." Gatomon said fumbling with her words, "That's quite a trip isn't it? Even from Temp City, that's really far"

"Not really" Izzy said calm, "We're gonna send you in with Matt's Digivice. That should bring you right to the general area he's in."

"What?" Tai asked confused, "You told us it doesn't work that way! You said that's why we couldn't go after Agumon right away! What the hell, man?"

"Tai, I was desperately looking for good reasons, not to include Mimi on this mission. Telling her we would struggle to find her partner, seemed like the perfect excuse – you know, up until TK and Patamon ruined that strategy for me!"

"Uh, yeah..." TK said awkwardly, "Sorry about that..."

"Obviously you will be send to your partners location, if they're in there! And all those other shitty theories I made up, so she wouldn't get suspicious."

"Why are so mean to Mimi?" Palmon asked saddened.

"Because she irritates the hell out of me, Palmon." Izzy said, "You know that. It's nothing personal, though. Lately there's been so much uh... off putting shit..." he added briefly glancing at the rookies, "I just wanted to keep the mission from derailing entirely... Anyway, I'd say we send all of you except for the rookies' partners. We'll only need one of your D3's. Brainiac, Veemon is already in his rookie-state so we'll use yours.

"Why?" Davis asked.

"Because, Gatomon doesn't need to evolve in there" Izzy explained, "Therefore sending her in with Kari's D3 would be pointless. Also, next time we send the crew in, they'll be transported directly to their Digimon, since Gatomon is in there and Kari is in this world"

He paused looking at both Kari and Gatomon.

"I assume she will go in there like last time, right?"

"Yeah..." Kari nodded, wiping her eyes. Her brother had successfully calmed her down, so she wasn't crying anymore. However she was still sitting on the floor, hugging her legs and staring straight ahead with glossy eyes.

"It's for the best..." she continued softly.

"Good" Izzy said, "But before we send you off, we got some more stuff to discuss. Apart from the eggs, we also have two other additions: We found Cody's and Yolei's partners. First up – she already introduced herself – we have Cody's partner Upamon. Also known by her rookie name, Armadillomon. Take a wild guess what she looks like in that form."

"Hey, everyone!" Upamon said happy.

"Hey..." the crew responded, not quite as happy.

"And this right there" Izzy said, "Is Poromon aka Hawkmon. Yolei's partner. Same thing here... it's been a while since we came across an inventive name, hasn't it?"

"Hello, there" Poromon said friendly.

"Uh... Izzy-Senpai?" Yolei asked timidly, "How come, he is a bird... that turns into a dragonfly?"

"How come he has a British accent, when he looks like he's supposed to be an Indian?" TK argued.

"Native American, TK..." Kari said quietly, still staring blankly ahead.

TK sighed at her political correctness.

"Fine, whatever... Point is, Patamon here, turns into a ten feet tall angle - and today he turned into a fish, for some reason! At this point, I feel like this is how things work in the Digital World... just get used to it. Nothing makes sense... ever."

"I'm sure it makes sense, somehow..." Yolei remarked.

"Oh, yeah?" TK interrupted, "One of our enemies looked like a guy in a monkey costume, doing Elvis-impressions. Try making sense of that!"

"Speaking of enemies" Izzy stepped in, "It appears we have learned quite a bit about our most recent opponent."

"We have?" Tai asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. We have! We were watching the same stream, right? We learned, that the dark towers are at least connected to him."

"Really?" TK asked, "But he never said that!"

"No, but the things he did say, pointed in that direction. It's true, he never confirmed that he built them, however he later stated, you were purposefully destroying his property. Since the towers are the only things you really went after, it's safe to say he thinks of those things as his property. Whether he built them or not, that's another story. Sure, the most obvious assumption is that he built them, but there's also the possibility that some other entity built them and he just claims them as his own. And before anyone asks, yes, it is an important detail, because it tells us what that guy is capable of. Can he built those monuments to suppress Digivolution? Or did he alter them to do that? Or maybe he just stole them altogether. Would be good to know."

"Speaking of Digivolution" Tai said, "How the hell did he evolve Agumon? And later Greymon, too?"

"Excellent point" Izzy agreed, "This and the fact that he planted both eggs as a trap for us. Both of those are actually impossible via coding and hacking alone. Digivolution requires either a Digivice or training, for a Digimon to level up naturally. I actually experimented with this stuff a lot. In fact, I already did so, during our first journey in the Digital World. All the coding methods, I found to be successful, failed as soon as I repeated them without access to a Digivice. As for the eggs, I can't say for sure yet, but they and the caves and temples they are usually in, have their codes completely inaccessible, just like the dark towers. I don't think he would be able to do all this, just with coding alone."

"Then..." Yolei said hesitating, "How does he do it?"

"This brings me to our potential fourth rookie..."

"Wait" TK said, "What are you saying?"

"He can digivolve Digimon, even as far as the Ultimate-level, something he couldn't do without a Digivice. When I transferred one of the D3's features to TK and Kari's Digivices I had four numbers, I could assign them to. The number zero was the only one that wasn't taken by one of our rookies. Zero is typically the first number, that's given away in coding. Meaning there's a fourth D3 that was created either before the others were, or simultaneously. And the D3 with this number was also designed to interact with the exact two eggs, he planted to lure Team A into an ambush."

He sighed, while the others stared at him, slowly connecting the dots.

"You remember what I told you before the first mission? Remember the promise I made to number four?"

"Power..." TK said uneasy.

"And do you remember their response?"

The group fell silent, but Kari raised her head.

"'Nah'..." she whispered, "'I'm good'..."

Izzy nodded.

"The Emperor is the fourth rookie"

"Okay, I admit" Gatomon said, "That could have gone a lot smoother"

"Was it really necessary turn burn the place down?" Tentomon asked.

Gatomon and Tentomon had reached Dev Lagoon. She wore a small bag around her shoulder, which contained Davis' D3. They were standing in front of a restaurant at the shore side of the Lake. The restaurant had been owned by a group of Numemon.

Now it was burning like a torch.

"That" Gatomon said, while pointing at the inferno, "was an accident! I didn't mean to do that."

"The way you knocked over that candle holder, looked way to smooth, to have been accidental..."

"Eh, what can I say" Gatomon shrugged, "I could trip and fall and it would still look cool. I'm a cat, what do you want from me?"

"Guys!"

Palmon appeared from behind the building and hurried toward them.

"Oh god, you're okay!" she continued, "I was just done grabbing the food, and I saw that the restaurant was burning!"

Gatomon had send her to the back to steal food from the kitchen while she and Tentomon "distracted" the staff. But in reality, Gatomon killed the majority of the Numemon inside and, after a barely successful interrogation of the final two, resorted to end the mission in style - with arson.

"Yeah, there were some people starting up a fight in there and..." Gatomon explained, "you know... things got kinda out of hand. On the bright side we didn't need to distract them anymore. Go get the stuff and let's get out of here, alright?"

"On it!"

She ran back to get the food she stole from the Numemons' kitchen.

"Why not tell her the truth?" Tentomon asked.

"Look, you know about the plan, because I know you can keep your mouth shut. As for Agumon, I know he respects the shit out of me, so keeping him quiet, wasn't a challenge either. But the others... ah, you know, I don't know you guys that long, right? I want to keep this on the down low, okay? I mean, is Palmon anything like Mimi?"

"I guess, they are kind of similar..."

"There you go, I wont tell her shit."

"But-"

"Look, I feel like, the second she sees any of the others she'll blab." Gatomon concluded, "Don't tell her anything!"

"Fine... you're the boss, I guess..."

"Damn right"

Palmon returned carrying a box with a few containers with dishes to go.

"Remind me again why we are back to stealing stuff..." she said shaking her head.

"None of us have any money." Gatomon repeated one of her prior statements annoyed.

"I know, but couldn't we have waited until we found Gabumon?" Palmon argued, "Maybe he has some?"

Gatomon looked over her shoulder, at the burning restaurant and back at Palmon again.

"It's a little late for that now, isn't it?"

Palmon was about to answer her, but she was interrupted by a heart wrenching scream:

"NOOOOO!"

They turned to look at the source: Not three hundred feet away, at the tree line of the surrounding forest, on his knees, was a Digimon, which looked similar to a wolf with blue, tiger-striped fur, at first glance. But upon further inspection it became clear that the rookie-level looked more akin to a yellow reptile, which wore the wolfs hide as a coat, with the heads fur covering their own face.

It was Gabumon. Absolutely heartbroken he looked at the flaming building. But to their surprise, he wasn't alone.

"Huh? Guys, is that you?"

Next to Gabumon, was Biyomon, Sora's Partner. She was a pink bird with a red beak and red claws on the ends of her wings. The feathers on her head and tail had blue tips and there was one curled up feather with blue stripes, standing out from the top of her head. Also, she wore a big silver colored metal ring around her left ankle.

"Oh, hey look at that!" Gatomon said satisfied, "Gabumon and Biyomon! Mission accomplished, everyone!" she added, swiftly pulling the D3 out of the bag.

"What are you doing here?" Biyomon asked flying over to them, hugging them one by one.

Gatomon glanced at the the flaming inferno.

"Well, I can tell you, what we weren't doing..."

"What's that?"

"Burning down this restaurant."

"Who would do such a thing?" Gabumon cried in agony, "Why... Why?"

"What's your problem?" Gatomon asked, when they reached Gabumon (he was still on his knees, so they had to walk over to him), "Isn't that the restaurant where Matt and Joe were held captive for like two weeks?"

"That was the previous owner..." Gabumon mumbled, "But these Numemon... did they make it out of there? Are they okay?"

"Uh... well..." Gatomon hemmed and hawed.

"Oh god, no!" Gabumon said, "They – they were good people, you know?"

"They were in the Mafia!"

"Well, you gotta make a living..." Gabumon muttered, "They loved me, for running Digitamamon out of business..."

"I'm not sure, if that qualifies as running somebody out of business" Tentomon said dry.

"They gave me free food, all the time!" Gabumon continued, "It was so delicious... They called me 'Their savior, before they needed a savior'..."

"I wonder how many people these pricks worship!" Gatomon hissed through gritted teeth, "Hang on, let me contact Izzy. He has this network going on, we'll add you to it shortly"

She pushed a specific button on Kari's Digivice twice. A few seconds passed before they heard a soft beep.

"Gatomon?" Izzy said.

"Hey, man. I got two new additions for you." Gatomon said putting her paws on both Gabumon's and Biyomon's shoulders.

"Oh? Huh, I see... Good work, you three." Izzy said pleased, before addressing the newcomers directly:

"Gabumon, Biyomon. How are you two doing?"

"Hey, Izzy!" Biyomon said.

"I've been better..." Gabumon sobbed.

"Huh? Why?"

The restaurant exploded into data.

"NOOOOO-O-O-O!"

"What was that?"

"Ah, don't worry" Gatomon said, "It's just a building that dissolved."

"Why would that happen?"

"I don't know" Gatomon lied, "We arrived here and it was already on fire..."

"But it wasn't" Palmon stepped in, "You went in, and you said some people started a fight and lit it on fire..."

"Ugh!" Gatomon groaned, "Obviously I meant, they were fighting in there when we arrived, someone lit the place up and I don't know why! Also, see what I mean, about her?" she added whispering to Tentomon, who shrugged and nodded in response.

"Uh huh..." Izzy said, "Right, got it... Now, see that blinking dot on Kari's D3?"

Gatomon looked at it, surprised to see exactly that.

"What? Another egg?"

"No, I added a waypoint to the D3"

"You can do that?" Biyomon asked surprised, "Also what's a D3? Is that a new Digivice?"

"Biyomon" Izzy cut her off, "Slow down! It's a bit of a walk to get to your location. I'll bring you up to date on the way. Now, that waypoint shows your new hideout. The way there is rather straight forward, but the hideout itself is in a forest, so I'll stick around until you arrive."

"You think it's a good hideout?" Tentomon asked.

"It's okay" Izzy said, "A burrow under a big tree. Found it by checking the surveillance cameras in the area. Nothing special, but there's one important advantage: Unless my calculations are off, there's a small area near its entrance, that is out of reach of the closest dark towers."

"Meaning, we can digivolve there!" Gatomon exclaimed, "Nice job! Also, this new method of contacting you is way better, than the whole yelling idea."

"Why thank you" Izzy said, "It's a win-win you know? You better get going, now. A severe case of arson might draw some unwanted attention."

"Yeah... good thinking" Gatomon said.

They went to go on their way, but Gabumon was still on the floor.

"Gabumon?" Palmon said softly, offering him on of the containers with food, "We – uh... got some of the dishes out of there before the building burned down"

"You mean..." Gabumon sniffled, "You stole them?"

"Well..."

"Come on, it's not like they need 'em anymore!" Gatomon countered.

"I mean..." Gabumon said sad, "At least that means I can eat some more of their delicious food... one last time!" he added amid tears.

Gatomon sighed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Come on..." she said soothingly, "Let's get going, alright? Get up, buddy..."

"O-okay"

"By the way Biyomon, why exactly are you with Gabumon?" Izzy asked.

"Oh, since this Emperor guy started taking over, I figured we needed to get the band back together" she explained, "And Gabumon was the easiest to find."

"How so?"

"Because everyone knows, he is a regular in that restaurant here"

Gabumon let loose a short whimper.

"Or well... he was..."

"He was a regular in the restaurant where he and Matt were held prisoner for half a month?"

"Yeah, but the Numemon who own the place now –" Biyomon said, but stopped when she realized her mistake, "I mean... owned the place up until now, are – uh, were way nicer than Digitamamon was."

"Can you please stop doing this?" Gabumon winced.

"Sorry..."

"Numemon, huh?" Izzy said contemplating, "Interesting..."

Gatomon scratched her neck uncomfortably.

"Izzy?" she said, "Can we have a talk? Privately?"

"Sure" he replied, sounding like he knew exactly what she meant, "Once you get to the hideout"

"Okay"

"In the meantime" Izzy said, "Gabumon, Biyomon, I have a lot to fill you in about, so listen up..."

The forest was dense, dominated by enormous oak-like trees. Everything was covered in oddly blueish green moss. Under an especially big tree was a generous burrow, a hollow space the size of a small house, with some roots from the tree above dangling from the ceiling. A little bit behind it's entrance, was a single large root growing straight down into the floor parting the room like a big column. The spot enabling them to evolve was next to it, between the root and the wall to the left of the entrance.

Gatomon wasn't inside. Instead she was at the back of the tree, having her talk with Izzy.

"I see" Izzy said after she finished explaining her mission to him, "Sounds like you really had no choice, but to burn that restaurant to the ground..."

"I told you" Gatomon insisted irritated, "I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Oh, please! Burning the crime scene down, in order to destroy all evidence, sounds so ridiculously in character for you, I wouldn't even be surprised, if you locked the doors first, so no potential witnesses could escape!"

"Okay... fair enough..."

"Also, I'm not to sure, if I'm on board with a mission, offering only the whistle of an eight-year-old as a reward..."

"Izzy, there's no price for emotional attachment!"

"Apparently, in a game of poker there is..."

"Look, I don't care, if you don't wanna help me with that" Gatomon said, "I can wing this on my own. All I ask, is that you keep this to yourself, alright?"

"Okay, you know what? How about this: I'll try to track down the whistle, as well. No promises, though. We've got enough on our plates at the moment."

"It's fine. But don't tell anyone, okay? Especially not Kari"

"Sure, but why is that so important?"

Gatomon sighed.

"Because I feel like, I'll have to do a lot of shady shit to get the whistle back..." she explained, "If Kari knew, she'd only try to stop me..."

"Okay then... Did you at least get some information from those final two Numemon?" he asked.

"Eh, not much..." she muttered annoyed, "All they told me was, that their network is screwed up right now, because their guys keep disappearing..."

"The Emperor, huh?"

"Probably... that little shit... But let me tell you: I'm not done with them yet!"

"I would have been shocked, if you were..."

Gatomon ignored that snide remark.

"Trust me, my friend..." Gatomon growled low, "They'll have their comeuppance..."

"If you say so"

Kari lazily glanced at the digital clock on the small table next to the couch.

Nearly 2 a. m.

She sighed softly and returned her gaze to the ceiling; She could have looked out the window instead, but the generous view showed the river outside. The water blackened by the night.

It made her uncomfortable.

Sleep would have been nice... but that wasn't really an option right now...

A trail of light flooded the ceiling, so suddenly, it made her jump a little, since she realized that there was someone in the room with her. However, she hadn't heard a single noise among the silence of the living room. Granted, she wasn't exactly listening for anything and she was in deep thought, so she could have easily missed something.

Still...

She put her head further back to see the source of the light. Unsurprisingly to her (since she knew the layout of their living room well), it came from the fridge. Quietly scavenging through the fridge, was her brother.

"Hey, Tai" she said softly.

"Jesus!"

Tai spun around and nearly jumped backwards into the fridge.

"God dammit, sis!" he hissed.

"Sorry..." she sighed, relaxing in her seat and staring at the ceiling again.

Tai quietly closed the fridge, walked over the couch and sat down next to her.

"Sis, it's 2 a. m." he said quietly, so their parents wouldn't wake up, "What are you still doing up?"

"I could ask you the same question..." Kari said slowly, lifting up her head. She knew, he had some tests coming up, so she continued:

"Studying?"

Tai shot her a look.

Kari sighed.

"GTA?"

"GTA"

"Right..."

"Now" he said turning around to face her directly, "What about you?"

"Couldn't sleep..."

"Okay... any idea why? - And don't say it's, because you think the whole Agumon thing is your fault!" he added insistently.

"No..." Kari muttered, "It's just – I feel guilty, because I couldn't save him..."

"God dammit!" Tai cussed, "Sis, I'm not kidding, you better drop this It's-all-my-fault-shit or else -!"

"Or else what?" Kari interrupted him, "I don't know what your plan is, and I know Mom's a heavy sleeper – and Dad right now, too" (Their Father had been drinking a lot of Sake tonight) "– but I feel like even they would wake up from that."

"Yeah... I guess, I was planning on yelling at you a bunch..." Tai admitted, "Seriously though, stop it! SkullGreymon would have fucking vaporized you!"

"I told you, I wanted to get to him, once he devolved again!"

"Sure, but let's be real, Airdramon-asshole probably had the same idea. And none of you guys were fit enough to stop him anymore."

"Wouldn't it be easier, just to call him emperor?"

"I refuse to call him that!" Tai said stubborn, "Even if the only other choice was some ridiculous nickname, that would take me an hour to say, I'd go with that over emperor, any day!"

"Sure..." Kari sighed, "Call him whatever you want..."

"Point is" Tai continued, "There's nothing you could have done there. Don't beat yourself up over this."

"I know, it's just..."

She hesitated.

"I... never mind..."

"No" Tai pressed, "Screw that! You're telling me what's bothering you, right now. I'm tired of this! I mean, how am I supposed to help you, if I don't even know, what the problem is?"

"That's the problem..." Kari said and Tai leaned back in surprise, "You always helped me. The most effort you put into anything, is to keep me safe, or help me out, when I'm in trouble!"

"That's because I'm your big brother" Tai responded sternly, "It's my job!"

"Yes but..."

She stopped.

"But what?"

"You were always there for me. I just... wanted to return the favor for once. Just this one time, I wanted to be there for you"

"Kari" Tai said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "You don't have to do this -"

"But I want to!" she said tearing up, "And it made me sick how this... maniac treated him" (Tai rolled his eyes at his sister's insistence not to swear) "and I didn't want you to worry anymore and I -"

Once more, she stopped herself lowering her head.

"I wanted to save him, so bad!" she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Tai pulled her into a warm embrace.

"It's gonna be okay" he said softly, "Izzy surely has a plan already, we'll get him back in no time. Don't worry."

"Don't you worry?"

Thanks to the embrace Kari was unable to see the pained expression, flickering across Tai's face. He ended the hug and held her at arms length, to reassure her with a very convincing false smile.

"Nah, he's tough. Knowing Izzy, we'll have him back tomorrow. It's fine."

Kari nodded and wiped her eyes.

"You're right" she said, "We'll get him out of there"

And even though her voice still sounded shaky, she also sounded convinced, that he was right.

"That's the spirit!" he said patting her on the shoulder, "Now get some sleep, alright? You look like you could use some"

She giggled softly.

"You, too" she said, "Your sleeping pattern is so messed up, power-napping probably wont help you in the long run"

"Fine, whatever" Tai said walking over to his room, while she moved towards hers, "I'll give it a shot"

"Night" she said quietly.

"Sleep well, sis"

And so the Yagami-siblings entered their respective rooms, dealing with their problems, the usual way: Tai by continuing to run over and murder civilians in GTA III, who reminded him of the Emperor and Kari by suppressing any thought of the nightmare she had before she had moved to the living room.